Donna Waters began her career as an experimental research physicist with a focus on photovoltaics and ultrafast laser spectroscopy. During the 90's, she held research appointments at NASA, NREL, Sandia Labs, and ZAE-Bayern.

In the peak of the telecom boom, she joined Wave Optics' R&D group. That experience inspired her to enroll in CREOL's graduate program in optics.

Upon graduation in 2002, she was hired as a stray light analyst at Ball Aerospace, supporting the optical design of high-profile space-based instruments, such as TSAT, OMPS, and GOES. She also worked as a light engine optical designer for Micron Technologies. Since early 2013, she has been consulting full-time as Proof of Concept Optical Engineering, LLC. Her customers include sole-proprietor entrepreneurs, startups, large tech firms, government agencies, and universities. She also provides tutoring in optics via Skype and Google Hangouts.